


a blend of surprises

by kareofbears



Category: Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal
Genre: Fluff, Group dynamics, M/M, Realization of Feelings, but his presence is definitely here, no spoilers!, sorry akira is not technically in this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23024092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kareofbears/pseuds/kareofbears
Summary: He opens his mouth, and everyone opens their mouth with him. They all speak at the same time."I think I'm into dudes—""CONGRATULATIONS ON REALIZING YOUR LOVE FOR AKIRA!" Everyone shrieks in unison.All at once, everything explodes.---Or, Ryuji has something to confess and everyone gets the wrong idea.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 27
Kudos: 279





	a blend of surprises

**Author's Note:**

> do i love persona 5 to death? yes. have i finished the game? no. is that going to stop me from writing fic for it? absolutely not.

"Shoot, he's coming!"

"Okay! Yusuke, hide the banner."

"Certainly. Please allow me some time to fold it properly as to minimize creases in—"

"Oh for God's sake, just hide it under the counter. It's easier to bring it up that way."

"Makoto, you're a genius! This has to be perfect."

"You're right. Though, honestly, I'm surprised it took him this long to tell us. I mean, you would think he'd be floundering for help with this, you know?"

“Yeah, and it’s not like we’re blind, we literally see them interact every day. It would be impossible _not_ to notice.”

“Is Futaba ready?”

“No text yet. Ugh, we might not have the strobe lights, then. Can’t we just turn it on without her?”

“Knowing her, I’m pretty sure she’s the only one who has access to that. If you’re saying you want to try hacking _her_ , well, be my guest.”

“No way I’m going against MedJed. We’ll just have to do it without her.”

"Oh, shh, he’s actually here! Act natural everyone."

There’s a rustle of movement before the door to Leblanc swings open. Ryuji blinks at the scene.

"Um, did I do something? I thought I told you guys I was gonna say something important, but you all look...busy?"

The cafe is deceptively normal, all of their preparations carefully hidden away. Throughout the store, the former Phantom Thieves were in what they all assumed are natural poses, trying their best to ignore him. Ann is overly invested in her phone, Makoto has her face buried deep in a textbook, Morgana is feigning sleep, and Yusuke is simply turned around and facing in the opposite direction. 

Morgana fakes a yawn. "Oh, Ryuji, is that you? I totally forgot we were even meeting up." 

"Really? Well, lucky that everyone's here, then. Let's get started."

Ann looks up and almost everyone takes a moment to wonder how she's known as the actor of the group. "Oh yeah, you mentioned you wanted to say something right?" Unable to help herself, she continues. "Even though Akira isn't here?"

"I'm planning on telling him when he gets back from his trip," Ryuji says, shuffling slightly. "He's, uh, kind of who I'm most worried about when it comes to this."

"Oh?" Yusuke replies, turning around in what he can assume is in utmost elegance. He makes his way behind the counter, making eye contact with Makoto to do the same. "Do tell."

"Well," Ryuji laughs nervously. "I know it ain't cool to feel like this, but I'm actually really fucking scared to say it."

"Why would you be scared?" Ann asks, nonchalantly putting her phone down and reaching under the table. "We're all friends here. Whatever you have to say, we’ll listen."

Some of his anxiety fades away, enough to offer a small grin. "I knew you'd say that."

"Come on, just say it!" Morgana says, hopping on top of the counter to join Makoto and Yusuke. Ann shifts her hand to grasp the confetti gun a little tighter. It was a little difficult, given that her hands are a little sweaty from excitement.

"I know, I know, I'm just! You know! Building up my nerves!" Ryuji combs through his hair with both hands before shoving his face in them.

_Perfect._

"Okay I'll just say it," he sighs. He puts his hands down, keeps his eyes closed, and takes a deep breath.

They wait on bated breath. Even though they already knew what he was going to say, the suspense is unreal.

He opens his mouth, and everyone opens their mouth with him. They all speak at the same time.

"I think I'm into dudes—"

"CONGRATULATIONS ON REALIZING YOUR LOVE FOR AKIRA!" Everyone shrieks in unison.

All at once, everything explodes. Ann leaps onto the table and, armed with two confetti guns, shoots them off in two directions with a _BANG._ Makoto and Yusuke lift a banner, revealing a massive, astonishingly detailed rendition of _The Creation of Adam,_ but instead has Ryuji and Akira's faces painted onto it. Morgana steps on the speaker to blast "Crazy In Love."

Ryuji falls over.

To be more specific, his eyes snap open, lets out a half garbled yell, and in his shock he stumbles back, slips on the rug, and falls over, making his hand land straight inside the plant. Rainbow confetti continues to rain on him as the music happily keeps playing.

Everyone goes quiet, processing what just happened.

"Um." Makoto blinks. “What?”

"That’s my line," His eyebrows knit together. He didn't even seem to realize his hand was submerged in dirt. "Love...? For Akira? What? Is that a joke?"

Everyone goes quiet again, only the song's heavy rhythm keeps the room for transcending into a perfectly silent cafe.

"Hello?" He snaps.

They might have screwed up. 

"Does he..." Yusuke mumbles, disbelieving. He puts the banner down. "Does he not know yet?"

"Wait a second—" the confusion in Ryuji's voice and expression morphs to hurt for a split second, before transcending to anger. "Are you guys making fun of me?"

Makoto is the first one to snap out of it. She moves to turn off the blaring speaker. "Wait, no Ryuji, we would _never_ —"

Ryuji snorts, pushing himself up. "Fucking typical. Of course. Right when I was _finally_ starting to feel decent about myself, enough to say this shit out loud for the first time in my goddamn life, you guys make fun of me for it."

He shakes his head and turns to the door. "I'm outta here."

"No!" Ann jumps off the table and stands in front of the exit, arms outstretched. "No, okay! We would never, _ever_ make fun of you for that! There’s nothing _to_ make fun of—"

“Then please, Ann, tell me what the hell just happened, huh?”

“We thought you already knew, it seemed so—so—”

“So obvious,” Yusuke finishes. 

“Obvious? Now you’re _actually_ making fun of me—”

“It’s the way you act—” Makoto tries.

“That is so not helping—” 

“No you _idiot,_ ” Morgana shouts, fed up. “It’s how you act around _him!_ ”

That makes Ryuji pause. “Him?”

Makoto’s eyes widen. “Wow. He really doesn’t know.”

“We were all fools,” Yusuke says. “A miscalculation on our part.”

“If someone doesn’t tell me right now, I’m seriously going to—”

“Crap,” Ann groans. “We’re so stupid. I can’t believe that we thought he knew.”

“Know _what?_ ” Ryuji nearly yells, frustrated. 

“That you’re in love with Akira!” 

Ryuji stops moving, stops breathing, and for a moment, he’s completely still. Then he bristles, “No? What? No! No, I am not in love with him, that’s so weird!”

“Do you think it’s weird Ryuji?” Yusuke asks, head slightly tilted to the side. 

“Duh! He’s my best friend. He’s, like, the next-door neighbor’s kid that I always wanted in my life, not, you know—” he gestures wildly. “A-a-a _love_ interest! And, hey—” He glares pointedly at Morgana. “Where did you even get that idea?”

“Do you want the list, or…?”

“Don’t fuck with me right now, you stupid cat—”

“Okay, okay! We’ve,” Morgana looks around at the rest of the people in the cafe. “Been noticing...your actions.”

“Specifically around Akira,” Makoto adds. 

“Actions that might imply something deeper than friendship,” Ann says.

“Like what?” Ryuji challenges.

Yusuke pulls out a folded piece of paper from his breast pocket, and that’s when Ryuji realizes a heartbeat too late that that was the wrong thing to say.

“To begin, I believe we should start off with the bullet points that are easier to digest,” he says, unfolding the lined paper. It looks very worn and old, as if it is constantly being folded and written on. 

Makoto frowns at it. “I told you it would have been better had we laminated it. It’s a mess now.”

“Laminate? Wait, did you say _bullet_ —”

“Point number one:” Yusuke says, speaking over Ryuji. “You are _extremely_ protective of him.”

“Okay, easy! Everyone here is protective of Akira.”

“But you’re the only one who lost his shit in front of Shido to protect him,” Ann points out.

Morgana nods, “And according to Haru, you lost your shit in front of Shido in the real world too.”

“S-sure, but like I said, we’re best friends.”

“Point number two: you speak very highly of him—”

“Oh, as if none of you do that either—”

“Very frequently.”

“I barely even do that! When was the last time I did that?”

Ann pulls her phone out. “10:09 AM today. ‘Have a good trip! Don’t forget to take dope pics, you handsome bastard.’”

Ryuji flushes, “Oh god, did I send that to the _group_ chat? A-and anyway, that’s just bro stuff. You wouldn’t get it Ann, you’re not a bro.” He looks around desperately, searching for an ally. “Am I right, Yusuke?”

“Well,” he brushes fringe out of his face, deep in thought. “No. Moving on,” Yusuke brings up the list, as if he hadn’t just betrayed Ryuji’s bro code. “Point number three will be taken over by Morgana.”

“This better be good because I’m getting pretty sick of being grilled.”

“I’d say this is solid enough to get through your thick head,” Morgana’s ears twitch, amused. “You know how I sleep in Akira’s room?”

Ryuji nods, and he continues. “So I can pretty much tell you his nighttime routine by heart. Homework, help out Sojiro, brushing his teeth—”

“This is slowly getting more and more creepy—”

"And you call him," Morgana interrupts gently, and Ryuji’s heart stops. "Every night. It would be cute if it didn't wake me up."

"That’s impossible,” he says, shaking his head. For the first time, Ryuji looks cornered, panicked. “He always makes sure that you're asleep first and speaks real quiet, if he speaks at _all_ , so—"

"You make him laugh, Ryuji."

"What the hell that gotta do with this?"

"Every time he laughs, I wake up," he shrugs. "We're pretty attuned to each other's sleeping habits, and he usually sleeps like a rock. But anytime he makes any noise, I wake up." He grimaces. "You all know about the nightmares."

Everyone falls quiet, remembering a few of their impromptu sleepovers that left a bad taste in their mouths. 

Ryuji nods slowly. "Okay. Okay, I can believe that. But I mean, who doesn't make him laugh? That guy laughs at everything—"

"No, he doesn't," Yusuke says, smiling.

"Not the way he does with you," Ann pipes up. "And don't say it's a natural talent, we know you actually think about your dumbass jokes before you see him."

Makoto nods. "We see the way you are with him, the effort you put in to make him happy." And then, softer. "You love him."

Ryuji turns an intense shade of red and sits down at a booth. He’s silent, mind going into overdrive trying to process the information suddenly thrown at him. After a few moments he speaks slowly. "Hypothetically, if I did love him, _hypothetically_ , how do you know for sure? How did you know before I even did?”

"Gee," Makoto smiles wryly. "I wonder how, we," she gestures to the people in the room. "Know what a crush on Akira looks like?"

"Wait," he sits up straight, looking at everyone with wild eyes. " _Everyone?_ "

"Not me, though!" Morgana pipes up. "He's like my big brother."

“Okay, but you’re the wrong species.”

“I refuse to take offense to that.” 

“ _Point is_ ,” Makoto says. “We know what it looks and feels like to have romantic interest for him.” She tilts her head. “Do your hands get sweaty when he’s near you?” 

“Perhaps your body automatically fidgets?” 

“Does your heart go crazy when you’re around him?” 

Ryuji shakes his head, a little dazed. “No, no to all of that. If anything, I kinda calm down when he’s around, you know?”

There’s a collective gasp from everyone, making him jump slightly.

“Wow, he’s in _deep_ ,” Ann says, slightly awed. 

“Oh my,” Yusuke exclaims, eyes bright. “The phrasing, the timing, the _diction_ of his words, nonetheless coated in such blatant ignorance! I must make note of this for future inspiration.” He goes through his pockets, placing a pad of paper, a pen, and a handful of loose yen on the counter. “Please refrain from taking those coins, I would like to have a meal tonight.”

“Is-is that bad?” Ryuji asks, bewildered, as Yusuke furiously writes away. “Was that the wrong thing to say?” 

“No, Ryuji,” Makoto smiles patiently. “There’s no wrong thing to say here, but that was the wrong question to ask.” She leans forward, peering at his hopelessly lost expression. “The real question is _why_ do you think you feel that way?”

“Well,” he starts, knee bouncing. “Okay, seriously, no making fun of me for this one.” At their collective nod, he continues.

“He’s the first one to _want_ to be my friend. No one took me seriously for the longest time because of the whole Kamoshida shit, and-and he’s the first one to look past that. He gave me the time of day when no one else would. I owe him for life, but he’d probably get pissed off that I think I need to do somethin’ for him,” he laughs. “It’s kinda funny, the guy who let me break free from my shitty past is the one I’d follow anywhere, no questions asked. He…” his eyes widen. “He makes me...feel free.” 

Ryuji’s words trail off, realization dawning on him. For a moment, there’s peace in the crowded cafe. Slowly, his body sags forward, and everyone jumps slightly as he lets his head fall on the table painfully. 

“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” he whispers, voice cracking slightly. “I’m in love with my best friend.”

“Ryuji…” Makoto trails off. Maybe they shouldn’t have brought this onto him so suddenly, maybe they wrecked what they could have had, if only they had held it in instead of—

He starts laughing. 

Everyone stares with wide eyes as his body _vibrates_ with laughter—his eyes squint until they’re shut tight and he grins so wide that tiny dimples appear at the very top of his cheekbones.

“I’m— ” He gasps out, unable to stop. “I’m sorry it’s just—” His laughter slows down as he wipes a few stray tears that leaked out. “I’m just so....”

Ryuji slumps back against the cushions, looking up at the ceiling.

“So goddamn relieved.”

“Are you okay?” Morgana asks carefully.

He grins, unmoving. “You have no idea how relieved I am. This whole time I thought I wasn't allowed to feel like this, you know? Like if I think about it for too long, something bad’ll happen. World will explode, I’ll get a terminal illness, whatever. But now I just,” he shakes his head, exasperated. “I’m so _dumb._ I’m so fucking stupid,” he lifts his head to see their stunned expressions. “It’s Akira. I’ve always loved him. I just didn’t let myself see it.” 

Silence encompasses the store for a fraction of a second.

“That,” Ann starts, slowly dabbing the tears from her eyes. “Is the best thing that you’ve ever said. I’m so sorry I called you an idiot every time you failed an exam, you are so much more than that.” 

“You did _what_ now—”

“I am _shaken_ to my core,” Yusuke starts clapping, floored. “The piece of which I am going to base my next painting will _surely_ be in La Louvre!”

Makoto beams. “Ryuji, if you had put in as much passion and drive in your essays as much as you did in that one minute, you could be at the top of your class. I am _so_ proud.”

Morgana rolls his eyes. “Guys, he literally just said what we’ve been trying to drill into his head this whole time, it’s not _that_ amazing.”

"Right now, I'm just glad he at least figured out Akira's feelings—"

Any sense of serenity that may have been exuding off of Ryuji shatters when he slams his hands on the table. 

"Holy shit, how does _he_ feel?"

“...he’s joking, surely.”

"Oh my god, Ryuji did you forget that he is literally half of this relationship?"

" _Look,_ I went through a crisis five minutes ago, you gotta cut me some slack on this,” he flushes crimson. “And what do you mean _relationship_? There’s no way in the deep pits of Mementos that he’s crushing on some loser like me—”

“I take it back,” Ann says, monotone. “Everytime I say you’re stupid, I really mean it.” 

“ _What?_ It’s true, there’s just no chance that—”

“He’s as into you as you’re into him?” Makoto finishes, eyebrows raised.

“Well— yeah—” 

Yusuke flips the list in his hands, revealing the scribbled writing on the other side. “Although Akira has minimal reactions on a whole, he does have some tells to reveal what he’s truly feeling.”

“Kinda like how he fiddles with his gloves in the Metaverse,” Morgana explains. 

Ryuji doesn’t understand. “Okay, and?”

Ann stares at him before gesturing for Yusuke to start.

“Point one: he, and I quote, ‘laughs at your jokes way too often to be platonic.’”

Morgana’s head lilts, smug. “I wrote that one.”

Ryuji stills, muscles tense. No. No, that’s impossible. 

“Don’t tell me…”

“Point two:” Yusuke continues, smiling ever so slightly. “The amount of time he spends with you is, frankly, _staggering._ ” 

“Akira has so many responsibilities, but he uses up all of his free time on your dumb ass,” Ann groans. “I’ve been meaning to go shopping with him _forever_ but you keep hogging him without even knowing it.”

“Guys,” he says weakly. His heart is hammering—or fluttering, he can’t tell anymore—“This isn’t funny.” This is too good to be true. 

“Who said it was supposed to be funny?” Makoto asks, head tilted slightly. 

“Point three, the last one,” Yusuke says, walking behind the counter. “Is that you despise coffee.”

His face falls utterly blank, heart still beating wildly. He knows why they’re bringing that up, what they’re going to say, and he’s thought about it so many times before, kept him up at night trying to uncover what it meant, but he refused to think of it as any solid evidence that— 

“Yeah…?”

Yusuke looks at him pointedly before turning to the massive wall of coffee beans. He reaches to the very top shelf, and there sat a lone canister, the only one without a professional label is plucked and brought in front of Ryuji. 

He looks down, and he knows, he knows that it exists, doesn’t even need to read the crappy duct tape label written on by sharpie but it doesn’t stop the tingle in his fingertips and his heart is beating even faster when he reads—

 _Ryuji’s blend (do not drink)._

“He makes tea for me,” he mutters. “So what?”

“What kind of tiny coffee shop like this has a special blend of tea, Ryuji?”

“Have you ever seen him or Boss make tea here? Except for when Akira makes it for you?” Ann asks.

“I was actually with him when he had to buy the tea leaves,” Makoto brushes her hair out of her face. “He knew you hate the bitter taste of coffee, so he tried to make it as sweet as possible. And a complex mix like this is quite...elaborate.”

“That bastard,” Ryuji says hoarsely, eyes still on the canister. “He barely has enough money as it is, and whatever we get from Mementos all goes into team supplies, so _why_ —”

“You already know why.”

He covers his face with his hands, processing everything. 

“Because he doesn’t want me to feel left out anymore. Because he knows that it messes me up to be disincluded, even with the smallest shit,” he concludes softly. He looks up. “It’s true, isn't it?” Ryuji asks. “He loves me. He actually fuckin’ loves me.” 

His heart slows, and his body feels limp in relief. He wants to melt through the floor, but he almost wants to pull an Ann and jump on the table or go for a marathon or _something._ But all he can do now is just sit in the booth and smile like an idiot. 

He loves Akira. Akira loves him. It was a simple thing, but it felt like the stars lined up for this and—

Ryuji feels like he’s _flying._

Ann throws her hands in the air. “ _Finally!_ It only took three billion years.”

“Do not worry about him, Ryuji,” Yusuke says. “We will take care of Akira’s side of things.” 

Makoto winces, “Can we at least reuse the banner?”

Yusuke whirls on Makoto, aghast. “ _Reuse_ —Makoto, we cannot possibly reuse this. This was to capture Riyuji’s heart and mind, Akira’s is quite possibly on the other side of the spectrum, to reuse it would mean—”

“We don’t have money for another banner.”

He pauses, face blank. “I will reconsider.”

“Ooo, you think we can use the strobe lights next time?”

“Guys, guys, guys,” Ryuji says quickly. _Strobe lights? What the hell?_ “Plan that shit _later,_ okay. Let’s celebrate! Let’s get some fucking ramen.” And because he’s practically vibrating from the amount of energy he has, he continues, “My treat!”

“Woo!”

“Fantastic. Please allow me to stock up for the week.”

“Slow down Yusuke, one at a time.”

“Crepes!” 

“Just _one,_ Ann, Jesus!”

“Sushi!”

“Are you guys deaf, I literally said—”

“I can go for some Yakitori, thank you.”

“Wait, I have like, 500 yen—”

“Oh, and Ryuji, before I forget,” Ann says, turning around. She smiles at him so genuinely that he can’t help but instinctively smile back. “Congratulations.”

He laughs awkwardly, embarrassed. He’s so, so lucky to have these people in his life. Who else would create such an elaborate surprise for him and forget just how oblivious he is? “Aw, don’t get sappy on me right now. I’m super happy right now, like—like what’s that thing we learned in English? I’m walking on a storm cloud?”

“You were close.”

“Dammit.”

“He’s right, Lady Ann,” Morgana says, walking towards the door. “Don’t encourage him too much, his head might get so big he’ll have trouble walking straight.”

“Oh, shut up,” Ryuji rolls his eyes, still smiling. “Be happy for me, Mona.”

“No. Even with all this, you’ll probably still mess it up.”

“Come on,” he stands up from the booth, heading out with the rest of them.“That’s impossible. After all, I’ve got you guys to keep me from screwing this up, right?”

They all glance at each other before looking back at Ryuji.

Ann snorts, all love and no bite. “You’d never last a day without us.” 

Ryuji takes a moment to look at his friends, bathed in the golden, summer sun streaming from the windows. He can’t help but think of the one person missing, the one person who’s taken up so much space in his heart that he might explode. And, if they’re right, might also have some space saved for him, too. 

He steps out of the cafe, and all he feels is warmth.

“Nah, I don’t think I would.”

**Author's Note:**

> life hack: wanna speed up the pacing of your fic? just slather some em dashes and a boat load of italics.
> 
> i love these characters so much, they are all my children, and i hope you enjoyed my fic even a fraction as much as i enjoyed writing it. i love how in canon they just clown ryuji non stop but they love and protect him anyway. fun fact - futaba was supposed to come in halfway through and turn on the strobe lights but there just wasnt a way to incorporate that smoothly. i am literally shaking with anticipation for p5 royal (and no i still havent finished the original but i AM going to get it nonetheless)
> 
> thanks for taking the time to read this fic! means the world to me! if you liked it maybe leave a kudos or even a comment (wow!) :)))))


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